A recent government survey of 3000 Japanese citizens discovered that levels of friendship or affinity between Japan and China, and Japan and Korea, are at the lowest level since records began. This is thought to be an effect of territorial disputes over the Senkaku Islands and Takeshima, respectively.

The article below describes these survey results, with netizen opinions on why fewer Japanese than ever ‘feel an affinity’ with their Asian neighbours.

Those who answered that they ‘didn’t feel an affinity with China’, including those who said ‘if I had to pick one I’d say I don’t feel an affinity with China’ rose 9.2 points compared with the previous year to 80.6%, according to the results of an opinion poll released by the government on November 24. This compares with 77.8% in 2010, the previous highest figure, when there were collision incidents between Chinese and Japanese fishing boats near the Senkaku Islands (known as the ‘Diaoyu Islands’ in China). The new figure is the highest since records began in 1978. Those who answered that they felt friendly towards China fell by 8.3 points to 18%.

Sino-Japanese relations have rapidly gone down hill since the nationalisation of the Senkaku Islands in September. ‘Demonstrations within China and the appearance of Chinese boats in the seas around the Senkaku Islands are causing the animosity,’ stated the Minisitry of Foreign Affairs.

The survey was carried out from September 27th to October 7th, through individual interviews with 3000 adult men and women from around the country. 61.3% of answers were valid.

Regarding current relations with China, those who answered ‘I don’t think they’re going well’ rose by 16.5 points compared to the previous year to an all time high of 92.8%. Those who answered that relations were ‘good’ or ‘so-so’ fell by 14 points to just 4.8%.

The results of the survey that asked whether or not Japanese felt an affinity with China and South Korea.

In the case of Korea, the number of people who ‘feel no affinity with Korea’ has risen sharply, with an increase of 23.7 points to 59%. Conversely, those who do feel an affinity with the nation fell by 23 points to 39.2%, the first time the rating has been in the 30s in 15 years. The cause is thought to be the Korean Prime Minister’s visit to Takeshima Island (referred to as the ‘Dokdo Islands’ in Korea) in August.

However, those who ‘feel an affinity with America’ rose by 2.5 points to 84.5%, whilst those who do not fell by just 1.8 points to 13.7%.

That’s obvious.
After all that’s been done to us, it would be better to ask who can still feel friendly.

あにゃらば（kem…）さん:

I think it’s over 80%…

ににんがし（sak…）さん:

Well, that’s obvious.

島唄（eii…）さん:

I don’t feel friendly towards South Korea either.

nonnku（jkr…）さん:

But I am feeling hatred! What?

hah**ahadan*（hah…）さん:

Those who feel friendly towards the Chinese: 18%
Those who feel friendly towards the Koreans: 39.2%
I’m surprised by how many people there are!

gla**7373（gla…）さん:

I hate China = I agree.
I like China = I don’t agree.

ani*u*ros*（ani…）さん:

All I feel is animosity.

オドロオドロオトロシ（cap…）さん:

政府扇動とは言えあの暴動見たら…。”>There’s no reason why we should feel close to them. Seeing those riots, you could even say they were incited by the government…

とり蔵（tor…）さん:

I hate the Koreans more because they insult our imperial family.

szmb（suz…）さん:

The scenes of Japanese cars being attacked, the glass of Japanese department stores being smashed and the goods stolen, I won’t be able to forget that.
I feel sad thinking about it.
Japanese people wouldn’t do that kind of thing to anyone.

day*o*_zun（day…）さん:

Japan has been treating China and Korea with friendship and sincerity..
But how long are they going to treat us with such rude behaviour?
We don’t need Sino-Japanese relations!
We don’t need Korea-Japan relations!
They are our enemies!

紫電改 空の勇者（tom…）さん:

It’s a foregone conclusion when you think about the awful riots, looting, destruction and arson.

k_h*k*to*（k_h…）さん:

I also hate the Japan that can’t stand up to China.

REI☆LA（mal…）さん:

Far from feeling affection, I feel revulsion. In all honesty, I have no desire to carry on relations with a country which passes off acts of violence as ‘justice’.

misty_blue_cafe（mis…）さん:

Why must we feel friendly towards them? After being treated this badly, more than China, I hate those economic organisations and governments which are just stupidly wagging their tails.

ﾎﾞｷｯｯﾊﾞｷｯｯｯ（b_o…）さん:

It’s not a matter of whether we feel friendly, yeah there are a few good individuals, but as a country I just hate them.

bouzu（uot…）さん:

Everybody is thinking it.

met*bo*_r*ck（met…）さん:

Even from the old days, it’s been like this…

魁！男塾江田島平八（lil…）さん:

Those people saying we should feel close even though they hate us have no idea!

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buster

Dunno, I think the Chinese are still bitter about the war, you know that whole massacre/rape your women/enslave your family for mindless torture and experimentation thing. Still within living memory, folks.

..Oh yea the Koreans; ignored.

http://www.facebook.com/li.j1a.shen 李家陞

It’s sad to see these three nations hating each other.. I hope someday they can put these animosities aside.

Kim

until the japs apoligize to china and korea for raping, killing and enslaving their women.. that’s not going to happen anytime soon lol

http://www.youtube.com/user/VictimOfBoredom Matt

1950s
• 1957: Prime Minister Kishi Nobusuke. “We view with deep regret the vexation we caused to the people of Burma in the war just passed. In a desire to atone, if only partially, for the pain suffered, Japan is prepared to meet fully and with goodwill its obligations for war reparations. The Japan of today is not the Japan of the past, but, as its Constitution indicates, is a peace-loving nation.”
• 1957: Prime Minister Kishi Nobusuke. “It is my official duty, and my personal desire, to express to you and through you to the people of Australia, our heartfelt sorrow for what occurred in the war.”

Kim

COPY AND PASTE much?

http://www.youtube.com/user/VictimOfBoredom Matt

Oh boy, ya got me. I was totally trying to impress you with my authorship, instead of trying to illustrate how many apologies Japan has issued. Please don’t tell my publisher!

Kim

i’m in stitches u r so funny lol

Chris

Are you, in fact, retarded?

Kim

nope, but your mama will die of cancer soon

http://www.youtube.com/user/VictimOfBoredom Matt

1960s
• June 22, 1965: Minister of Foreign Affairs Shiina Etsusaburo. “In our two countries’ long history there have been unfortunate times, it is truly regrettable and we are deeply remorseful” (Signing of the Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and South Korea).

chucky3176

And how many Japanese politicians renegaged and renounced those apologies, followed by visits to Yasukuni? Count them, you probably can’t.

http://www.youtube.com/user/VictimOfBoredom Matt

You’re right, I can’t, because I don’t stalk the Japanese government. The most important people to me in my life are my family and friends, not some government officials of some constitutionally pacifist foreign country.

Some people are obsessed with Hollywood celebrities. Others go nuts over K-pop idols. Still more go crazy over Jesus or Muhammad. But apparently you get your thrills monitoring the actions of a bunch of middle-aged bureaucrat politicians of a foreign country you clearly don’t like and yet let rule over your life. Oh 산타클로스, please let me know which Japanese politicians were naughty or nice this year?

chucky3176

What Japanese middle aged bureaucrat politicians say, mirrors what the majority of Japanese really think to themselves – it’s ignorance mixed up with pride in Japan’s actions in Asia.

http://www.youtube.com/user/VictimOfBoredom Matt

The fundamental question is why you even care about that. There are a lot of people in the world who are historically ignorant and take pride in countries with morally reprehensible pasts. Nowadays, lots of Brits like to look back fondly at the British Empire as a benevolent force that ultimately contributed positively to the world. I doubt the Spaniards and Portuguese are any more regretful over their colonial legacies. Many people in Russia are nostalgic for Stalin, who was responsible for the deaths of millions of non-Russians during his reign of terror. I’ve yet to see any Indonesians expressing remorse for the purging of ethnic Chinese or the current subjugation of West Papua.

The truth is, this is nothing more than a game of nationalist pride. Each side has the power to dramatically improve ties by relinquishing the ego pursuit and offering a face-losing extension of goodwill, but of course this is never going to happen because the notion of a universal brotherhood is anomalous in an Asia that resembles pre-WWI Europe.

chucky3176

Who says I cared what you Japan thinks? It seems to me, the poll was done in Japan, by Japanese. It doesn’t mean that I will think highly of Japan or its people, either.

ChuckRamone

Dude, you re-posted an entire Wikipedia article about past Japanese politician’s statements in the comments here, and we’re the ones stalking their every move? Everyone here is commenting on it because it’s an article about Japan-China-Korea relations, same as you.

http://www.youtube.com/user/VictimOfBoredom Matt

Fair point. I just have a compulsion to correct people.

http://www.youtube.com/user/VictimOfBoredom Matt

1970s
• September 29, 1972: Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka. “The Japanese side is keenly conscious of the responsibility for the serious damage that Japan caused in the past to the Chinese people through war, and deeply reproaches itself. Further, the Japanese side reaffirms its position that it intends to realize the normalization of relations between the two countries from the stand of fully understanding ‘the three principles for the restoration of relations’ put forward by the Government of the People’s Republic of China. The Chinese side expresses its welcome for this” (Joint Communique of the Government of Japan and the Government of the People’s Republic of China).

http://www.youtube.com/user/VictimOfBoredom Matt

1980s
• August 24, 1982: Prime Minister Zenko Suzuki. “I am painfully aware of Japan’s responsibility for inflicting serious damages [on Asian nations] during the past war.” “We need to recognize that there are criticisms that condemn [Japan’s occupation] as invasion” (Press Conference on Textbook issue).
• August 26, 1982: Chief Cabinet Secretary Kiichi Miyazawa. “1. The Japanese Government and the Japanese people are deeply aware of the fact that acts by our country in the past caused tremendous suffering and damage to the peoples of Asian countries, including the Republic of Korea (ROK) and China, and have followed the path of a pacifist state with remorse and determination that such acts must never be repeated. Japan has recognized, in the Japan-ROK Joint Communique, of 1965, that the ‘past relations are regrettable, and Japan feels deep remorse,’ and in the Japan-China Joint Communique, that Japan is ‘keenly conscious of the responsibility for the serious damage that Japan caused in the past to the Chinese people through war and deeply reproaches itself.’ These statements confirm Japan’s remorse and determination which I stated above and this recognition has not changed at all to this day. 2. This spirit in the Japan-ROK Joint Communique, and the Japan-China Joint Communique, naturally should also be respected in Japan’s school education and textbook authorization.
• September 6, 1984: Emperor Hirohito. “It is indeed regrettable that there was an unfortunate past between us for a period in this century and I believe that it should not be repeated again.” (Meeting with President Chun Doo Hwan.)
• September 7, 1984: Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone. “There was a period in this century when Japan brought to bear great sufferings upon your country and its people. I would like to state here that the government and people of Japan feel a deep regret for this error.”
• October 23, 1985: Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone. “On June 6, 1945, when the UN Charter was signed in San Francisco, Japan was still fighting a senseless war with 40 nations. Since the end of the war, Japan has profoundly regretted the unleashing of rampant ultra nationalism and militarism and the war that brought great devastation to the people of many countries around the world and to our country as well” (Speech to the United Nations).
• 1989: Prime Minister Takeshita Noboru. “As we have made clear previously at repeated opportunities, the Japanese government and the Japanese people are deeply conscious of the fact that the actions of our country in the past caused suffering and loss to many people in neighboring countries. Starting from our regret and resolve not to repeat such things a second time, we have followed a course as a “Peace Nation” since then. This awareness and regret should be emphasized especially in the relationship between our countries and the Korean peninsula, our nearest neighbors both geographically and historically. At this opportunity as we face a new situation in the Korean peninsula, again, to all peoples of the globe, concerning the relationship of the past, we want to express our deep regret and sorrow (Speech in the Japanese Diet).

http://www.youtube.com/user/VictimOfBoredom Matt

1990s
• April 18, 1990: Minister of Foreign Affairs Taro Nakayama. “Japan is deeply sorry for the tragedy in which these (Korean) people were moved to Sakhalin not of their own free will but by the design of the Japanese government and had to remain there after the conclusion of the war” (188th National Diet Session Lower House Committee of Foreign Affairs).
• May 24, 1990: Emperor Akihito. “Reflecting upon the suffering that your people underwent during this unfortunate period, which was brought about by our nation, I cannot but feel the deepest remorse” (Meeting with President Roh Tae Woo).
• May 25, 1990: Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu. “I would like to take the opportunity here to humbly reflect upon how the people of the Korean Peninsula went through unbearable pain and sorrow as a result of our country’s actions during a certain period in the past and to express that we are sorry” (Summit meeting with President Roh Tae Woo in Japan).
• January 1, 1992: Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa. “[Concerning the comfort women,] I apologize from the bottom of my heart and feel remorse for those people who suffered indescribable hardships” (Press conference).
• January 16, 1992: Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa. “We the Japanese people, first and foremost, have to bear in our mind the fact that your people experienced unbearable suffering and sorrow during a certain period in the past because of our nation’s act, and never forget the feeling of remorse. I, as a prime minister, would like to once again express a heartfelt remorse and apology to the people of your nation” (Speech at dinner with President Roh Tae Woo).
• January 17, 1992: Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa. “What we should not forget about relationship between our nation and your nation is a fact that there was a certain period in the thousands of years of our company when we were the victimizer and you were the victim. I would like to once again express a heartfelt remorse and apology for the unbearable suffering and sorrow that you experienced during this period because of our nation’s act.” Recently the issue of the so-called ‘wartime comfort women’ is being brought up. I think that incidents like this are seriously heartbreaking, and I am truly sorry” (Policy speech at the occasion of the visit to South Korea).
• July 6, 1992. Chief Cabinet Secretary Koichi Kato. “The Government again would like to express its sincere apology and remorse to all those who have suffered indescribable hardship as so-called ‘wartime comfort women,’ irrespective of their nationality or place of birth. With profound remorse and determination that such a mistake must never be repeated, Japan will maintain its stance as a pacifist nation and will endeavor to build up new future-oriented relations with the Republic of Korea and with other countries and regions in Asia. As I listen to many people, I feel truly grieved for this issue. By listening to the opinions of people from various directions, I would like to consider sincerely in what way we can express our feelings to those who suffered such hardship” (Statement by Chief Cabinet Secretary Koichi Kato on the Issue of the so-called “Wartime Comfort Women” from the Korean Peninsula).
• August 4, 1993: Chief Cabinet Secretary Yōhei Kōno. “Undeniably, this was an act, with the involvement of the military authorities of the day, that severely injured the honor and dignity of many women. The Government of Japan would like to take this opportunity once again to extend its sincere apologies and remorse to all those, irrespective of place of origin, who suffered immeasurable pain and incurable physical and psychological wounds as comfort women” (Statement by the Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono on the result of the study on the issue of “comfort women”),
• August 11, 1993: Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa. “I myself believe it was a war of aggression, a war that was wrong” (First Press Conference after inauguration).
• August 23, 1993: Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa. “After 48 years from then, our nation has become one of nations that enjoy prosperity and peace. We must not forget that it is founded on the ultimate sacrifices in the last war, and a product of the achievements of the people of the previous generations. We would like to take this opportunity to clearly express our remorse for the past and a new determination to the world. Firstly at this occasion, we would like to express our deep remorse and apology for the fact that invasion and colonial rule by our nation in the past brought to bear great sufferings and sorrow upon many people” (Speech at 127th National Diet Session).
• September 24, 1993: Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa. “I used the expression war of aggression and act of aggression to express honestly my recognition which is the same as the one that the act of our nation in the past brought to bear unbearable sufferings and sorrow upon many people, and to express once again deep remorse and apology” (128th National Diet Session).
• August 31, 1994: Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama. “Japan’s actions in a certain period of the past not only claimed numerous victims here in Japan but also left the peoples of neighboring Asia and elsewhere with scars that are painful even today. I am thus taking this opportunity to state my belief, based on my profound remorse for these acts of aggression, colonial rule, and the like caused such unbearable suffering and sorrow for so many people, that Japan’s future path should be one of making every effort to build world peace in line with my no-war commitment. It is imperative for us Japanese to look squarely to our history with the peoples of neighboring Asia and elsewhere. Only with solid basis of mutual understanding and confidence that can be built through overcoming the pain on both sides, can we and the peoples of neighboring countries together clear up the future of Asia-Pacific…. On the issue of wartime ‘comfort women,’ which seriously stained the honor and dignity of many women, I would like to take this opportunity once again to express my profound and sincere remorse and apologies. With regard to this issue as well, I believe that one way of demonstrating such feelings of apologies and remorse is to work to further promote mutual understanding with the countries and areas concerned as well as to face squarely to the past and ensure that it is rightly conveyed to future generations. This initiative, in this sense, has been drawn up consistent with such belief” (Statement by Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama on the “Peace, Friendship, and Exchange Initiative”).
• June 9, 1995: House of Representatives, National Diet of Japan. “On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II, this House offers its sincere condolences to those who fell in action and victims of wars and similar actions all over the world. Solemnly reflecting upon many instances of colonial rule and acts of aggression in the modern history of the world, and recognizing that Japan carried out those acts in the past, inflicting pain and suffering upon the peoples of other countries, especially in Asia, the Members of this House express a sense of deep remorse” (Resolution to renew the determination for peace on the basis of lessons learned from history).
• July 1995: Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama. “The problem of the so-called wartime comfort women is one such scar, which, with the involvement of the Japanese military forces of the time, seriously stained the honor and dignity of many women. This is entirely inexcusable. I offer my profound apology to all those who, as wartime comfort women, suffered emotional and physical wounds that can never be closed” (Statement by Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama on the occasion of the establishment of the “Asian Women’s Fund”).
• August 15, 1995: Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama. “During a certain period in the not-too-distant past, Japan, through its colonial rule and aggression, caused tremendous damage and suffering to the people of many countries, particularly those of Asia. In the hope that no such mistake will be made in the future, I regard, in a spirit of humanity, these irrefutable facts of history, and express here once again my feelings of deep remorse and state my heartfelt apology” (Statement by Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama ‘On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the war’s end’).
• June 23, 1996: Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto. Hashimoto mentioned the aspects of Japan’s colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula such as the forced Japanization of Korean people’s name and commented “It is beyond imagination how this injured the hearts of Korean people” Hashimoto also touched on the issue of Korean comfort women and said “Nothing injured the honor and dignity of women more than this and I would like to extend words of deep remorse and the heartfelt apology” (Joint press conference at summit meeting with President Kim Young Sam in South Korea).
• October 8, 1996: Emperor Akihito. “There was a period when our nation brought to bear great sufferings upon the people of the Korean Peninsula.” “The deep sorrow that I feel over this will never be forgotten” (Speech at dinner with the South Korean president, Kim Dae Jung).
• August 28, 1997: Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto. “I believe that Japan has learned its lessons from history and that the people of Japan widely share the view that we must learn from the past for the future, without forgetting what is behind us. The year before last, former Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama issued these words: ‘… through its colonial rule and aggression, [Japan] caused tremendous damage and suffering to the people of many countries, particularly to those of Asian nations. … I regard, in a spirit of humility, these irrefutable facts of history, and express here once again my feelings of deep remorse and state my heartfelt apology.’ I am of the same mind as the former Prime Minister. Even though there are some elements in Japan that are quite capable of arousing Chinese sentiment with their rhetoric, Japan will not become a military power in the future. Our determination to continue treading the path of a peaceful nation is self-evident to us, the Japanese people. Still, however clear this may be to us, we must continue our persistent efforts so that China and the other nations of Asia have no reason to doubt us” (Speech by Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, Seeking a New Foreign Policy Toward China).
• September 6, 1997: Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto. “In 1995, on the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II, the Government of Japan expressed its resolution through the statement by the Prime Minister, which states that during a certain period in the past, Japan’s conduct caused tremendous damage and suffering to the people of many countries, including China, and the Prime Minister expressed his feeling of deep remorse and stated his heartfelt apology, while giving his word to make efforts for peace. I myself was one of the ministers who was involved in drafting this statement. I would like to repeat that this is the official position of the Government of Japan. During the summit meeting that I had during my visit to China, I have made this point very clear in a frank manner to the Chinese side. Premier Li Peng said that he concurs completely with my remarks” (Ministry of Foreign Affairs Press Conference on: Visit of Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto to the People’s Republic of China).
• January 13, 1998: Press Secretary. “Statement by Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto on World War II prisoners of war. Q: At the meeting last night with Prime Minister Blair, did Prime Minister Hashimoto really apologize for the prisoners of war. Spokesman Hashimoto: The important thing is that the Prime Minister of Japan expressed the feelings of deep remorse and stated heartfelt apologies to the people who suffered in World War II directly to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. This was the second meeting between Prime Minister Hashimoto and Prime Minister Blair and we considered the meeting very important, especially this year. Making use of this opportunity, Prime Minister Hashimoto expressed his remorse and apology on behalf of the Government of Japan; this is very important. Prime Minister Blair fully understands the importance of the statement made by Prime Minister Hashimoto on this issue. His press opportunities after the talks objectively reflect what the two gentlemen talked about” (Press Conference by the Press Secretary).
• January 16, 1998: Press Secretary. “Apology to prisoners of war. Q: This week, Prime Minister Hashimoto apologized to British prisoners of war for actions taken during World War II. Does the Japanese Government have any plans to extend that apology to Australian prisoners of war, and if not, why not? Spokesman Tanaka: Our sense of apology and our sense of remorse was addressed to all the countries which have gone through the experiences of the last world war. You may recall that, at the time of the 50th anniversary of World War II, then-Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama issued a statement by the Government of Japan to express its sincere feeling of deep remorse and heartfelt apology for the damages and suffering for the one-time past of Japan. This apology was addressed universally. Since the time of this apology, Prime Minister Tony Blair of the United Kingdom has been elected to his current position and has just concluded a visit to Japan. Therefore, we took the opportunity of this recent visit to once again express our feeling, so that this new bilateral relationship would be cemented in the future. Please be reminded that our apology is extended to all the countries who shared the same disastrous experiences. Q: So, are you saying that Prime Minister Hashimoto’s statement from this week was just a restatement of what then-Prime Minister Murayama said on the 50th anniversary? Spokesman Tanaka: No, it is not really a restatement, but a new determination. Every time we make this type of statement, it is our expression of a new determination to build a new era together with other countries, particularly this time with Prime Minister Tony Blair, who is a young, fresh face in the international community and who has shown sufficient capability to lead that country and Europe into the 21st century. So, we wanted to share with him our perception for the new era. Q: So, you do not see a need to extend that apology to particular countries? Spokesman Tanaka: Whenever the opportunity arises and whenever necessary, we do not hesitate to renew our determination” (Press Conference by the Press Secretary).
• July 15, 1998: Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto. “The Government of Japan, painfully aware of its moral responsibility concerning the issue of so-called “wartime comfort women,” has been sincerely addressing this issue in close cooperation with the Asian Women’s Fund which implements the projects to express the national atonement on this issue. Recognizing that the issue of comfort women, with an involvement of the Japanese military authorities at that time, was a grave affront to the honor and dignity of large numbers of women, I would like to convey to Your Excellency my most sincere apologies and remorse to all the women who underwent immeasurable and painful experiences and suffered incurable physical and psychological wounds as comfort women…. By the Statement of Prime Minister in 1995, the Government of Japan renewed the feelings of deep remorse and the heartfelt apology for tremendous damage and suffering caused by Japan to the people of many countries including the Netherlands during a certain period in the past. My cabinet has not modified this position at all, and I myself laid a wreath to the Indisch Monument with these feelings on the occasion of my visit to the Netherlands in June last year” (The contents of the letter of the then Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto sent to the Netherlands Prime Minister Willem Kok).
• October 8, 1998: Prime Minister Keizō Obuchi. “Looking back on the relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea during this century, Prime Minister Obuchi regarded in a spirit of humility the fact of history that Japan caused, during a certain period in the past, tremendous damage and suffering to the people of the Republic of Korea through its colonial rule, and expressed his deep remorse and heartfelt apology for this fact. President Kim accepted with sincerity this statement of Prime Minister Obuchi’s recognition of history and expressed his appreciation for it. He also expressed his view that the present calls upon both countries to overcome their unfortunate history and to build a future-oriented relationship based on reconciliation as well as good-neighborly and friendly cooperation” (Japan-South Korea Joint Declaration A New Japan-South Korea Partnership towards the Twenty-first Century).
• November 26, 1998: Prime Minister Keizō Obuchi. “Both sides believe that squarely facing the past and correctly understanding history are the important foundation for further developing relations between Japan and China. The Japanese side observes the 1972 Joint Communique of the Government of Japan and the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the August 15, 1995 Statement by former Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama. The Japanese side is keenly conscious of the responsibility for the serious distress and damage that Japan caused to the Chinese people through its aggression against China during a certain period in the past and expressed deep remorse for this. The Chinese side hopes that the Japanese side will learn lessons from the history and adhere to the path of peace and development. Based on this, both sides will develop long-standing relations of friendship” (Japan-China Joint Declaration On Building a Partnership of Friendship and Cooperation for Peace and Development).

http://www.youtube.com/user/VictimOfBoredom Matt

2000s
• August 10, 2000: Consul-General of Japan in Hong Kong Itaru Umezu. “In fact, Japan has clearly and repeatedly expressed its sincere remorse and apologies, and has dealt sincerely with reparation issues. These apologies were irrefutably expressed, in particular in Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama’s official statement in 1995, which was based on a cabinet decision and which has subsequently been upheld by successive prime ministers, including Prime Minister Yoshirō Mori. Mr. Murayama said that Japan ‘through its colonial rule and aggression, caused tremendous damage and suffering to the people of many countries, particularly to those of Asian nations. In the hope that no such mistake be made in the future, I regard, in a spirit of humility, these irrefutable facts of history, and express here once again my feelings of deep remorse and state my heartfelt apology'” (Japan Has Faced Its Past. Far Eastern Economic Review, August 10, 2000).
• August 17, 2000: Spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan Ryuichiro Yamazaki. “The fact is that Japan has repeatedly expressed its remorse and stated its apology for wartime actions with the utmost clarity. A notable example is then Prime Minister’s official statement in August 1995, based upon a Cabinet decision. In the statement, Mr. Murayama said that Japan ‘through its colonial rule and aggression, caused tremendous damage and suffering to the people of many countries, particularly to those of Asian nations,’ and he expressed his ‘feelings of deep remorse’ and stated his ‘heartfelt apology.’ As recently as 1998, then Prime Minister Keizō Obuchi reiterated gist of this statement to Chinese President Jiang Zeming when he paid a state visit to Japan” (Letter written in response to the article “Miffed Chinese Sue Japan Companies” in The New York Times on August 7, 2000).
• August 30, 2000: Minister for Foreign Affairs Yōhei Kōno. “I believe that Japan’s perception of history was clearly set out in the Statement by Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama issued, following a Cabinet Decision, on the fiftieth anniversary of the end of World War II. As a member of the Cabinet, I participated in the drafting of that Statement. The spirit contained therein has been carried forth by successive administrations and is now the common view of the large number of Japanese people” (Address by Minister for Foreign Affairs Yōhei Kōno During His Visit to the People’s Republic of China).
• April 3, 2001: Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda. “Japan humbly accepts that for a period in the not too distant past, it caused tremendous damage and suffering to the people of many countries, particularly to those of Asian nations, through its colonial rule and aggression, and expresses its deep remorse and heartfelt apology for this. Such recognition has been succeeded by subsequent Cabinets and there is no change regarding this point in the present Cabinet” (Comments by the Chief Cabinet Secretary, Yasuo Fukuda on the history textbooks to be used in junior high schools from 2002).
• September 8, 2001: Minister for Foreign Affairs Makiko Tanaka. “We have never forgotten that Japan caused tremendous damage and suffering to the people of many countries during the last war. Many lost their precious lives and many were wounded. The war has left an incurable scar on many people, including former prisoners of war. Facing these facts of history in a spirit of humility, I reaffirm today our feelings of deep remorse and heartfelt apology expressed in the Prime Minister Murayama’s statement of 1995″ (Speech by Minister for Foreign Affairs Makiko Tanaka at the Ceremony in Commemoration of 50th anniversary of the Signing of the San Francisco Peace Treaty).
• October 15, 2001: Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. “During the talks, President Kim highly appreciated the words of the Prime Minister Koizumi at Sodaemun Independence Park, in which he expressed remorse and apology for Japan’s colonial domination” (Japanese prime minister visits South Korea).
• 2001: Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi (Also signed by all the prime ministers since 1995, including Ryutaro Hashimoto, Keizō Obuchi, Yoshirō Mori). “As Prime Minister of Japan, I thus extend anew my most sincere apologies and remorse to all the women who underwent immeasurable and painful experiences and suffered incurable physical and psychological wounds as comfort women. We must not evade the weight of the past, nor should we evade our responsibilities for the future. I believe that our country, painfully aware of its moral responsibilities, with feelings of apology and remorse, should face up squarely to its past history and accurately convey it to future generations” (Letter from Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to the former comfort women).
• September 17, 2002: Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. “The Japanese side regards, in a spirit of humility, the facts of history that Japan caused tremendous damage and suffering to the people of Korea through its colonial rule in the past, and expressed deep remorse and heartfelt apology” (Japan-DPRK Pyongyang Declaration).
• August 15, 2003: Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. “During the war, Japan caused tremendous damage and suffering to the people of many countries, particularly to those of Asian nations. On behalf of the people of Japan, I hereby renew my feelings of profound remorse as I express my sincere mourning to the victims” (Address by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi at the 58th Memorial Ceremony for the War Dead).
• April 22, 2005: Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. “Japan squarely faces these facts of history in a spirit of humility. And with feelings of deep remorse and heartfelt apology always engraved in mind, Japan has resolutely maintained, consistently since the end of World War II, never turning into a military power but an economic power, its principle of resolving all matters by peaceful means, without recourse to use of force. Japan once again states its resolve to contribute to the peace and prosperity of the world in the future as well, prizing the relationship of trust it enjoys with the nations of the world.” (Address by the Prime Minister of Japan at the Asia-African Summit 2005).
• August 15, 2005: Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. “In the past, Japan, through its colonial rule and aggression, caused tremendous damage and suffering to the people of many countries, particularly to those of Asian nations. Sincerely facing these facts of history, I once again express my feelings of deep remorse and heartfelt apology, and also express the feelings of mourning for all victims, both at home and abroad, in the war. I am determined not to allow the lessons of that horrible war to erode, and to contribute to the peace and prosperity of the world without ever again waging a war.”
• 2007: In 2007, the surviving comfort women demanded an apology from the Japanese government for being used as sex slaves. Shinzō Abe, the prime minister at the time, stated on March 1, 2007, that there was no evidence that the Japanese government had kept sex slaves, even though the Japanese government had already admitted the use of brothels in 1993. On March 27, the Japanese parliament issued an official apology.
• May 9, 2009: The Japanese government apologized through its ambassador in the U.S. to former American prisoners of war who suffered in the Bataan Death March.

http://www.youtube.com/user/VictimOfBoredom Matt

2010s
• February 11, 2010: Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada. “I believe what happened 100 years ago deprived Koreans of their country and national pride. I can understand the feelings of the people who lost their country and had their pride wounded,” Okada said during a joint news conference with South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan. (This was a statement marking the 100th anniversary of Japan’s colonial annexation of Korea, and not in reference to Japan’s war acts in particular.)
• August 10, 2010: Prime Minister Naoto Kan expressed “deep regret over the suffering inflicted” during the Empire of Japan’s colonial rule over Korea. Japan’s Kyodo News also reported that Cabinet members endorsed the statement. In addition, Kan said that Japan will hand over precious cultural artifacts that South Korea has been demanding. Among them were records of an ancient Korean royal dynasty.
• September 13, 2010: Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada apologized to a group of six former American soldiers who during World War II were held as prisoners of war by the Japanese, including 90-year-old Lester Tenney, a survivor of the Bataan Death March in 1942. The six and their families and the families of two deceased soldiers were invited to visit Japan at the expense of the Japanese government in a program that will see more American former prisoners of war and former prisoners of war from other countries visit Japan in the future.
• December 7, 2010: Prime Minister Naoto Kan apologized for Korea’s suffering under colonization as part of a statement marking the 100th anniversary of the annexation in 1910. “I express a renewed feeling of deep remorse and state my heartfelt apology for the tremendous damage and suffering caused by colonial rule,” Kan said. Kan said Japan colonized Korea “against the will of the Korean people” who suffered great damage to their national pride and loss of culture and sovereignty as a result and added that he wants to take an honest look at his country’s past with the courage and humility to address its history.
• March 3, 2011: Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara apologized to a group of Australian POWs visiting Japan as guests of the Government of Japan for the ill-treatment they received while in Imperial Japanese captivity.
• December 8, 2011: Parliamentary Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Toshiyuki Kat apologized to Canada for their treatment of Canadian POW’s after the Battle of Hong Kong.
• April 9, 2012: Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Toshinao Urabe reiterated Japan’s apologies for atrocities in the Philippines, declaring, “I also hereby express our heartfelt apologies and deep sense of remorse for the tragedy.”

ChuckRamone

But the apologies are consistently made null and void because Japanese politicians continually deny anything bad ever happened. These apologies are extremely vague and worded like an expression of regret a corporation would issue after one of its products is recalled – very impersonal and distant. It’s not hard to doubt Japan’s sincerity regarding these issues. And you said in an earlier post that it’s in the past. But in terms of human history, these events occurred not long ago at all and still have a profound impact on the present.

http://www.youtube.com/user/VictimOfBoredom Matt

Maybe the 55th time will be the charm.

So you give 100% legitimacy to any Japanese politician who antagonizes, and 0% legitimacy to any Japanese politician who apologizes. Gee, that sounds sensible.

I guess Obama should apologize for slavery since there are still some Americans who argue that the extent of slavery has been highly overstated.

Incredible how the South Korean war crimes in Vietnam occurred far more recently and were absolved merely with one measly apology in 2001. But considering one South Korean told me that these amount to nothing more than “petty theft”, apparently the ROK government is going to have to apologize again! I’m waiting…

ChuckRamone

Japan has to codify it into law like the Germans did. And they have to stop teaching a distorted curriculum. The Obama/slavery, Korea-Vietnam things are red herrings here.

Seriously, the way you folks talk about this crap, it’s like you think Japan’s the only country to have ever committed violence. Guess what? Countries have been screwing each other over for centuries, and most of these have never been apologized for. The amount of violence that’s occurred in the 20th century in Europe and Africa, not to mention Latin America and Asia irrespective of Japan, is nothing less than catastrophic. If every country demanded endless apologies with no tolerance for any freedom of speech suggesting anything otherwise, this world would be waging WW IV right now.

ChuckRamone

Germany codified the illegality of Holocaust denial into law. Japan should codify into law the illegality of denying its war crimes. I think you knew what I was talking about but all this snarkiness serves to stroke your ego. Korea and China are demanding that Japan make official apologies and make illegal denial and distortion of history IF Japan wants to have good relations with them. They’re not threatening war. If Japan wants to have good relations, it can just put its pride aside and make proper amends. It’s really up to them. But people like you are saying that Korea and China are the ones that need to swallow their pride. Why should they have to? They were the victims.

http://www.youtube.com/user/VictimOfBoredom Matt

Has South Korea codified the illegality of denying its war crimes in Vietnam?

The USA hasn’t codified the illegality of denying slavery, Native American genocide, or American war crimes.

Nor has almost every other country in the world done any such thing.

When can we expect the CCP to codify the illegality of denying that Mao was responsible for killing millions more Chinese than Japan ever had? The answer, of course, is never. But not because the CCP is evil and continues to kill Chinese people (well, technically it does, but I digress), but because it’s focused on the PRESENT and more importantly the FUTURE, instead of undergoing a needless loss of face.

If you hold Japanese babies, children, teenagers, young adults, and middle-aged folks, and even younger senior citizens responsible for actions that no one under the age of 85 could have possibly committed, then clearly SNSD and 2NE1 are to be held responsible for the following:

…because the ROK government has yet to codify the illegality of denying these war crimes. So boycott SNSD and 2NE1 until the ROK government does the right thing!

ChuckRamone

South Korea was not a colonizer of Vietnam. It was one country among many involved in combat there. But all your examples are beside the point. I wouldn’t say men don’t have to stop being sexist towards women because women sometimes are sexist too. As for China’s Mao regime, the problems within your family should have no bearing on a dispute you have with another family. And besides, haven’t you heard the old expression two wrongs don’t make a right?

Anyway, like I said. Japan doesn’t have to do anything it doesn’t want to do. And neither do the Chinese or Koreans. They can all continue on as they have been. No one can force Japan to apologize and not deny its past. No one can force the Chinese and Koreans to just forget about it, but you seem to be saying the Chinese and Koreans should do something they don’t want to, while Japan doesn’t have to. You don’t see your bias?

Jennster

excellent comment!
the end result is consequences. japan will have worse consequences when it comes to china policy on that country hereafter.
i propose south korea and china join together to isolate and beat up japan just like in history. obvsiou

James Wang

Wow, Mao killed millions……., you guys are still on about that. You know you can spread all the rumours about China all you want. Because when people doubt it and ask you where the figure come from, you can always just give some kind of a speculations. And if they ask for hard data, you would say, well, communist China has destroyed the data, or covered it up.

http://www.youtube.com/user/VictimOfBoredom Matt

Is that all you gleaned from that entire comment?

The precise number of deaths Mao was responsible for was an utterly peripheral aspect of that comment. Talk about missing the forest for the trees.

If it makes you feel better, I’ll say that Mao was not responsible for the death of even a single Chinese person. In fact, I’ll go so far as to say that the CCP has never harmed a single Chinese person. In fact, I’ll go so far as to say that the CCP has, in fact, resurrected millions of Chinese people from the dead. Is that better?

Another sanlu drinking CCP borg. Chinese revisionism is so pathetic, you chinese dont even know your own history. Need to be schooled by white Americans like me who know more about China than you ignorant fenqings ever will.

James Wang

Mao did what he deemed nessesary for the survival of the entire Chinese population, you fool, we don’t have a fucking “Papa” America to put his military to protect us and his technology and market to develop our economy like you lucky Japanese (or Koreans or Taiwanese) have, we have to stand up to Soviets to the North, India to the south and USN from the oceans, and all he has was a fucking gaint medieval agricultural village with no techonology and no infrastructure and no energy.

http://www.youtube.com/user/VictimOfBoredom Matt

Apparently you missed it the first and second time I said it.

My comment was NOT about Mao.

Got it? Good.

P.S.––
Mao irresponsibly jeopardized the survival of the entire Chinese nation by traitorously rebelling against the Nationalists and carelessly instigating a completely selfish, unnecessary and ideologically-motivated civil war. He recklessly endangered China’s stability and security in pursuing a radical-extremist foreign utopian ideology with no historically proven track record. If it weren’t for him, most of China today would be as prosperous as Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong. He gambled away China’s innate assets (its culture and people), and revisionist-apologist sheep like you mythologize him as China’s savior-messiah.

James Wang

NoNo, if Mao didn’t win in China, China would probably be richer, but its political indepence would be jeopardized. Anglo-American banks and corperations would be totally dominating Chinese economy, China would be torn by the cold war as Chiang kai-shek would not be stupid enough to cut off links to the USSR. And then, China would be worrying everyday about how not to piss off either side. China will be the big pussy pacifier, pacifying both side with bribes and giving up concessions. Unless Chiang toughen up to both side(because he can NOT afford to piss off either side), and suffer the same fate as PRC during the 60s. The US would put Chiang’s ROC in the same catagory as Francoist Spain and treats ROC as the new nazi state(didn’t you know about the close Nazi-KMT connection). Trust me, both USA and USSR will secretly fund leftist activist groups to stir up things for Chiang. So in the end, China wouldn’t be much different, probably a bit richer, but less politically solid.

http://www.youtube.com/user/VictimOfBoredom Matt

“Independence” is meaningless if it does not benefit the national population. Sure, the DPRK is independent of predatory Anglo-American banks and corporations, but I do not envy the average North Korean citizen. Iran is boldly independent, but I do not envy the average Iranian citizen. Russia is proudly independent, but I do not envy the average Russian citizen. “Independence” at the cost of well-being is a foolish game of pride, and I do not think the average “dependent” South Korean, Japanese, or Taiwanese envies to any extent the citizenship of the average North Korean, Iranian, or Russian.

Your claim that the U.S. would try to destabilize a right-wing, anti-communist ally is historically unsubstantiated. I cannot think of a single instance of the U.S. trying to subvert a pro-American, right-wing ally by infiltrating it with left-wing agitators.

Your example regarding Francoist Spain is ridiculous, as, due to Spain’s strategic location in light of Cold War tensions, the US entered into a trade and military alliance with it as part of the policy of containment (see: Pact of Madrid, 1953). Nixon toasted Franco, and, after Franco’s death, stated: “General Franco was a loyal friend and ally of the United States.” The US even built military facilities in Spain during this era, and, as part of Cold War strategy, one of these bases even had nuclear weapons stationed on it.

Sorry, but your suggestion that, as a real-world example analogous to a hypothetical mainland ROC, the U.S. had funded leftist activist groups in Francoist Spain––which it was supporting with nuclear weapons in its fight against communism––is utterly ridiculous.

The Republic of China would have been an invaluable ally against the Soviet Union, and it would have had the US’s unconditional support, just as had been the case with Suharto’s Indonesia. Your insistence of the inevitability of Sino-American tensions is frankly your own wishful thinking. The U.S. would love for its relations with East Asia to be as solid as its relations with the EU. Would China be less “independent”? Perhaps, but that’s the opportunity cost of maintaining an alliance with a superpower whose goodwill is invaluable.

James Wang

To put is simply, Mao’s China would be less rich but more centralized and more independent. Chiang’s China would be more free and richer and less politically independent and less control over its resources.

Erdos

>Germany codified the illegality of Holocaust denial into law.

That’s not a positive thing. The spineless attitude of modern Germans towards free speech is rather repulsive if you ask me. They’ll roll over for anyone.

yea. because apparently you are the only person in the history of internet whos “familiar” with chinese history. *eye roll*

http://www.youtube.com/user/VictimOfBoredom Matt

Evidently you’re not familiar with the English language either.

nitewings

oh everyone look the grammar nazi is here! how “interesting” your argument is. did you discover the internet yesterday? tryna judge other ppls grammar in the commenting section of a social site. how intelligent you are. just so sad.

Look at this fenqing, you couldnt even refute his point about Mao the greatest killer of Chinese in history. Chinese need to stop claiming foreign lands and get out of free nations that they currently colonized such as Tibet, Xinjiang, and Mongolia

Actually, I’ve been here quite a while now, AmEuro-nazi. Good to see that you haven’t changed, still set in your old ways of catching “fenqing” right?

It’s rather entertaining that you think I’m mad. Especially given the fact that you were crying like a baby begging Kai to ban me.

Have you taken your own advice and started packing for Europe yet?

POS

Nope us ethnic Euros are here to stay, no shame for me in my ancestry. I love my country USA, and I’ll walk on your racist face any day of the week. Oh and now we are coming to Asia, little bitches like you cant do a thing about it.

nitewings

oh. and stop worshipping war criminals. you don’t see anyone in germany worshipping hitler in church.

http://www.youtube.com/user/VictimOfBoredom Matt

…and yet everyday, thousands of people line up for hours to pay their respects at the Mao mausoleum.

chucky3176

Quite right. One apology followed right back by ten more comments from Japanese politicians saying it never happened, that’s it’s a lie and that Japan’s a victim.

Lily

Does this pretentious pseudo-intellectual actually do anything other than copying and pasting from Wikipedia, the “encyclopedia” that anyone can edit at any time with false information?

http://www.youtube.com/user/VictimOfBoredom Matt

Would you like me to copy and paste all the references?

Because I can do that, too.

P.S.–This is from Wikipedia:

“Water is a chemical compound with the chemical formula H2O.”

OMG! It must be false!

Jahar

No “japs” alive did any of those things. I would never apologize for the crimes of my father or my countrymen. Why would they?

Zappa Frank

ok, not apologize, but at least adimt what happened… it’s unbelivable that japs still claim that confort women never existed and nanjing massacre wasn’t done by japs army..

Jahar

The government has acknowledged it. They don’t teach about it in schools, so the gen. pop really doesn’t know much about it. It’s a couple of right- wing nutcases who say that crap.

Butsu

They DO teach it schools. Where do everyone get this information that they don’t?

Jahar

From what we have read online, on wiki and other sources, general education in Japanese schools tends to leave out a lot about what happened in WW2. Of course, all countries edit and censor what they teach to children, but they often forget this.

Butsu

No they don’t really censor it out, since all of the Japanese history books for up to high school or something needs to be written by private persons/companies, it is not allowed for the Ministry of Education to write a history book (i.e the gov,), when they do this some books will play down, or maybe not go into full detail about some of the war crimes, but usually they are there in some way or another (even in the infamous “New History Textbook” released in 2005 which started a lot of controversies. Fun fact: it’s used in only 0.039% of Japanese schools).

And of course, they have some conservative professors and stuff that keeps deny stuff the imperial japanese army did, on the other hand so do we in my homecountry (Sweden), an author for example that denies the holocaust. Because of this not all Swedish people denies the holocaust, in the same way not all japanese are ignorat or denying what happened during world war 2.

Furthermore, my Japanese friends told me this, discussing WW2 and war crimes with younger japanese people is a lot easier today than with older generations. But a lot of times they can feel uneasy. Why? you might ask. Because they feel somewhat ashamed for what happaned, and they know this. But it is also to them a thing in the past, they want to move on and look to the future. (this is of course a generalization, and as we can read from both japanese netizens and politicans not everyone shares this sentiment).I think that this is proven by the fact that Japans “military” (if we can even call it that) is a full blown joke. They simply do not want to risk that the military would go out of control ever again. It’s the same Nuclear weapons. (This have changed slightly recently, with some politicans wanting change due to the climate and Chinas shenanigans to sea might be at fault here).

Before I moved to Japan I had the same impression as you Jahar, but after coming here I have found it to be gravely exaggerated. And then going to a school with a majority of Koreans and Chinese students, it really makes me wonder why no one questions what they learn in school, the stuff you can hear that some of them have learned in school is baffling. It makes me feel that South Korea and China are throwing rocks in glass houses when they complain about how Japanese school children learns history.

This post became a mess, I just wanted to give a short reply, but in the end a lot of thoughts and other feeling ended up in my post.

Mr. Ed

It’s pretty interesting how none of the comments by the Japanese posters mention why it is that relations with China and Korea are so poor. Are they even taught in their schools about what happened during WWII that caused all of this animosity? Or is it something that they don’t learn at all?

http://www.youtube.com/user/VictimOfBoredom Matt

Relations with China and Korea are so poor because Chinese and Korean students are taught in their schools to hate the Japanese.

The fact that a country did something horrible in its past is completely irrelevant with respect to whether or not it should be hated. The fact that I don’t hate Germany doesn’t mean I don’t know about the Holocaust.

I watched an excellent piece on Al Jazeera English a couple weeks ago that followed a Chinese girl throughout her life up until present day. One interesting part was that by the time she was a young child, she already knew that she absolutely and utterly despised and abhorred the Japanese, even though she couldn’t even put into words why she did. This is pure indoctrination, the same way Americans are indoctrinated to love democracy and South Koreans are indoctrinated to hate communism.

Moniisek

Would you happen to remember which video was it (is it up on youtube, like the 101 East series they do)? Please ^^

It has loads of fantastic footage (especially from China during the 1990s) and I highly recommend watching it.

It also has plenty of insanely adorable footage of ridiculously cute toddlers.

Moniisek

Thanks a lot !

I didn’t know Al Jazeera made this long documentaries, so that’s a good news.

ChuckRamone

Japanese are also taught a revisionist history in school that totally whitewashes its past. You don’t think that’s also a problem? Stop being such a biased apologist for Japan.

Jahar

But they aren’t taught to hate anyone. I will teach my children that a bad thing didn’t happen before I teach them to hate. No question.

ChuckRamone

You’re using emotionally loaded words, like “murderous” and “hate,” to tug at people’s heartstrings. Are you saying that teaching a false version of history is not a bad thing? “Whitewash” is actually not accurate. What the Japanese do with their history curriculum is completely omit events and distort facts. That is as harmful or more harmful than teaching “hate.”

Hokit

Can you provide facts to back up your claim that the only history taught
in Japanese schools has either had facts “distorted” or events “completely omitted”? And I don’t mean just picking out
one textbook and using that as representative of an entire curriculum. I
want to know whether ALL Japanese schools and ALL Japanese teachers
submit to the teachings you describe.

Jahar

How, exactly?

ChuckRamone

The Japanese MOE approved textbooks in the 2000s that were written by conservative historians. The books interpret the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity sphere’s motives in a positive light. They also gloss over or omit much of the bad stuff. These books are being used in schools in Japan, albeit not many. Yet the most telling sign of the Japanese education system is the average Japanese person’s knowledge of history. They are ignorant of the past. They live in a fairy tale world constructed by the conservatives that run their government. Yes, this is true across the world but not to the same degree. In America, we learn about Native Americans being killed and put on reservations, slavery, American expansionism from the time of the first colonies to Manifest Destiny and on into the present. We learn to be critical. If you don’t think ignorance is a problem, what would you say is the basis of most bigotry in the world? Yes, the Japanese education system doesn’t actively teach hate but it is a climate where ignorance and by extension bigotry thrives. Don’t tell me you actually think Japanese society is open-minded and tolerant. 2-chan, uyoku are extremes, but they do exist in Japan along with more mundane forms of “hatred” of outside countries.

Jahar

with ignorance, people are still open to the truth. taught hatred is much harder to overcome. Especially in places where everything mom and dad says is regarded at indisputable fact.

ChuckRamone

sounds like a difference in degrees of the same thing: bigotry. doesn’t really matter, and I don’t agree that ignorance is easily reversible and “hate” is unchangeable.

Hokit

That’s it? No specific examples of text books and their content to show that things have been “omitted” or “glossed over”? Where’s the data to show that on average, 127 million Japanese are “ignorant of the past”? Or the proof that every single element of the Japanese education system promotes “ignorance” and “bigotry”?

You made plenty of damning accusations – surely you must have equally damning evidence to back them up?

Jahar

Also name a country(aside from germany) that doesn’t whitewash the past. All countries have been murderous thugs at some point, should we be teaching that in primary school?

Zappa Frank

in europe we teach that, exactly… we all know about our history of endless wars.. . from the roman empire till the last war… not just germany, but all europeans always fighted each other.. But see.. now all heat is gone, a war is more than unthinkable, is impossible.

Jahar

Do they really teach about all the raping and murdering that happened in every war(at least in the past)? The racism and miscarriage of human rights? all through history? really?

Zappa Frank

it’s not that in a primary school we talk about raping . But for sure we teach, in a polite way, that our countries did bad things to many others, that we did racial laws (not just in germany, but also in france, italy and many others countries) and was a terrible thing…

Jahar

Okay. In Canada, we generally stay away from the fact that we slaughtered and nearly exterminated the native population. Then tried to make them like us. Then we gave up and just tried to give them money to make them feel better.

chucky3176

What would have happened if Germany said what they did was right, that Hitler was a great man, that Holocaust never happened and that everything was counter to what people in other parts of Europe are taught in school? What would have happened if Germany had shrines honoring Hitler, Himmler, Goring, and all the rest of the Nazi gang?
Would there be an EU union today? I doubt it.

Zappa Frank

you’re right.. i think i was naive to compare asian and european situation..

Butsu

This, sir, is a load of bullcrap.

nanosecsoflight

Mind you they’re not really taught at school as much as they are taught by their own family members okay? You must realize, it’s their parents or grandparents that has experienced the war(after all it didn’t happen that long ago). We are talking about neighbors, relatives, friends being tortured and experimented on. Do you really think they won’t hold that hatred in their hearts? Of course they will! They will then present that hatred to their children. I can say this because I went to school in the late 90’s and I have never been taught to hate the Japanese. In fact, my teachers had always been adamant that we shouldn’t stereotype a whole nation of people, base on a single event. The truth is this children already have notions of disdain and hatred against the Japanese before they even started school! I used to harbor negative feelings against Japan because my grandparents were involved in the war and I also have friends’ families who were affected by it. They told recounts of their experiences and at the same time their feelings were passed to me.
My cousin who’s about 5 years older told me that once at school, when one of their teachers was about to make a negative comment regarding the Japanese during second world war, he said first “I don’t care if this gets me fired but…” you can tell that there are consequences for dissing Japan. That being said, I do acknowledge that there were many prose/short recounts in our text-books describing soldiers fighting against the Japanese. But really, the emphasize of the lesson is on the grammar structure, writing structure, learning new words and reading out-loud with emotion and fluency etc.

When countries’ diplomatic relationships are at a low, it isn’t the result of one country. We know that China and Korea are far from perfect, but I personally don’t think Japan has really done much to help the already delicate situation. China and Korea wants Japan to stop distorting their history books. They don’t expect every Japanese citizens to be sorry for what their ancestors did (I mean why should they?), they just want the event to be recognized without being watered down.
And you say that Japan has apologized, yes, but all apologies had been vague and later maybe even rebutted. That’s equivalent to someone really wronging you then gave you an apology but the apology isn’t really clear about what it is they did, then later they would deny or give wrongful justifications and recounts of the event. Would you believe the apology to be sincere? I think any normal person wouldn’t either. Same thing with the shrine thingy, I have no qualms with it personally because they are after all, relatives of people and warriors(with questionable morals). But I think the Japanese government shouldn’t make a ceremonial event out of it, because to put it bluntly they are war-criminals who did some serious inhumane things. I personally feel that if they want to visit the shrine, they should visit the shrine by themselves and make it a private/personal thing when paying their respects rather than nationalizing it.
I think the result of many Japanese citizens’ negative feelings to Korea and China is also because they are also taught a distorted account of the war and that’s why they feel they didn’t really do anything wrong enough for China and Korea to always be yipper yapping about these events, which to the Japanese is exaggerated and maybe even fictitious. Some may even be angered because they think it’s the Chinese and Koreans who are distorting history and brainwashed to hate Japan.

wacky

what make you think that the problem is irrelevant??? as long as japan keep occupying the islands claimed by both south korea and china the problem will stay.
anyway every time i talk to a japanese on then nett about this issue, the usual comment is like this ” unlike china, japan is a democratic country and all the data is there and you can look it up if you want”.
the usual respond i give without satisfying reply ” what does japanese school teach about this issue?? since this is the issue that matter because most of the people all over the world are quite ignorant about the real history therefore most will never make such an effort, they only know what have been told in the school”

http://www.youtube.com/user/VictimOfBoredom Matt

Is this a joke? South Korea occupies Dokdo/Takeshima, not Japan.

wacky

i am talking about china-japan relation, i dont know much about korea. but still you are not answering my question at all

what does japanese school teach about this issue? (the WWII)

http://www.youtube.com/user/VictimOfBoredom Matt

I don’t know and I don’t care.

What do Chinese schools teach about the millions dead due to the CCP?

What do South Korean schools teach about South Korean war crimes in Vietnam, or anti-communist massacres within its own borders?

wacky

you dont know and dont care??? really??? they why posting a long record of apology from japanese official??

what do china and korea teach about their own history is their own problem and not a concern of a japanese, i dont give a fuck with what japanese teach about japanese killing japanese

wacky

and let me reply once more i dont know much about korea so stop bring it up. and stop running around and answer my question

what is the official japanese version of the war that is taught to to the student? ( the same question ive been asked several times to several japanese without clear answer)
and i know that you know so stop running around

http://www.youtube.com/user/VictimOfBoredom Matt

Well then therein lies your problem. You’re going to have to realize that humans exist first and foremost as a species—not a nationality.

P.S.—Vietnam isn’t part of South Korea.

wacky

refusing to answer my question again.

i am not a member of your stupid cult of humanity, i am talking about politic, international relation is different from domestic affair.

who said that vietnam is a part of south korea?? i said i dont know much about korea so i am not discussing it with you

ABC

In my opinion, I think both sides are at fault.
1. China needs to stop focusing on the past. Yes, the Japanese have done many horrible things in the past to them, but the past is the past. I’m not saying Chinese should forget the past, but they should focus more on the present and future.

2. The Japanese are also at fault. Why are they messing with their history books. The history should tell history, and nothing but history. And also, what’s up with the island deal? It’s as if the government is intentionally trying to pick a fight by so called “purchasing” it.

3. As for the Koreans, I’m not sure how they’re involved in this.

blublublu

As Chinese we couldn’t care less about the war, its in the past. its their actions after the war that pisses us off. The Japanese dismissed the war and moved on as if nothing happened. Their only acknowledgement of the war comes from their denial of rape and massacres and their politicians’ annual visit to the Yakushini shrine. so you see, its a present problem

Hokit

I see what you mean but It’s important to keep things in perspective. It’s one thing to criticise Japanese leaders for exacerbating tensions but it’s quite another to claim that denial or provocation are the only way that WWII’s acknowledged. The Japanese are accused of being insensitive yet there are those from the other side who blow things out of proportion just to create excuses to vent their own racism.

Butsu

“The Japanese dismissed the war and moved on as if nothing happened.”

Amazing stuff they teach in China.

lonetrey / Dan

Idiots… all of them. Here I am, foolishly dreaming of a United States of Asia…

http://www.youtube.com/user/VictimOfBoredom Matt

“Here I am, foolishly dreaming of a United States of Asia”

There are a lot of Asian born-and-raised Westerners who think like that. No offense to you because I like you as a person, but to even conceptualize this sort of fantasy necessitates an extremely shallow image of “Asia”, enabled only by having grown up outside of Asia. It’s about as naive as dreaming of a United States of Europe—from Lisbon to Moscow and Oslo to Belgrade—on the eve of 1914.

Not to mention, don’t forget that if you’re just going to say “Asia” instead of “East Asia”, this also implies peace in the Middle East and amiability between Pakistan and India. Any day now…

foo

> It’s about as naive as dreaming of a United States of Europe—from Lisbon to Moscow and Oslo to Belgrade—on the eve of 1914.

And the funny thing is that out of Portugal, Russia, Norway, and Serbia, only Portugal is currently a member of the EU.

Moniisek

I don’t see the US of Europe coming any time soon, more like never. I live in the czech republic, which is in the EU now and our PM is giving speeches that imply “let’s be friends with Russia” (no, they did never invade us, no) and “china’s too important economic partner so let’s not say a word of disapproval about Tibet,’kay?). everybody’s now criticizing the EU, they never mention the good things.

Norway refused, Serbia is a candidate and Portugal’s “admission tests” (as well as Greece’s and Spain’s) were a bogus, their economies were not ready. That’s were the current problems come from, mainly.

And Russia? Traditionally an opposing force.

lonetrey / Dan

-sigh- Yeah, it’s a little [not sure what word I’m looking for… wishful thinking?] for me when I think of it too. I’m not even of European descent, but even I would like to see cooperation. It would just be so interesting, wouldn’t it? Not to mention, it could resolve so many age-old issues.

But I’m not unrealistic, I know it’s not going to happen. To reach that point, there wouldn’t even be any age-old issues left to solve if they could come together like that.

lonetrey / Dan

No, I meant all the other countries too. I _do_ think about the more southern/western Asian countries too, you know. One of the main reason why I bother keeping up with IndoBoom. (in case you wonder, yes, my thoughts include Indonesia & Malaysia, places you didn’t mention before.)

Why is it shallow to wish for peace? I don’t mean they have to love each other. To be honest with you, the reason for why I’d like to have a United States of Asia is mostly so that I would see an interesting future where a nation consisting of the largest population in the world (think of it, countries with the highest population densities!) working together. Imagine how much they could accomplish. Not to mention, my idea of a United States of Asia would provide a lot more “common sense” human rights in situations/places where most people would assume there’d be.

To address how you think my idea of a United States of Asia: I understand why you would think my ideas are “extremely shallow”, but I think they’re at the very least at a level that deserves more than a rating of “shallow”. I just want an interesting future. And with their human resources, Asia is where I realistically imagine it happening.

Lets be clear: I don’t simply want a United States of Asia just so that there can be a world power for East Asian people. I don’t simply want a United States of Asia just so that there can be a country where I can point at and say “Yeah! We’re number one here!” Those might be the shallow reasons for why you think I would think of a United States of Asia. But I do not know what you are thinking. Perhaps you weren’t at all. Perhaps you were, but simply neglected to say what you were thinking and how my simple statement was “naive” and “extremely shallow”.

Lets recap: [WALL OF TEXT, TL;DR!!]
1) I’m slightly offended when you say my ideas are naive and extremely shallow, but I can see how you arrived at that conclusion (and that it’s reasonable that you did so.).
2) No, I wasn’t just thinking of Japan, China, and Korea. You assumed that. I really do mean United States of ASIA. _ALL_ of it. Even Russia. Unless they’d prefer to be that USA’s version of Canada. (just kidding. I’m not really comparing geographic locations for anything.)
3) I hope you can see how I’m thinking a little bit more than just “extremely shallow” ideas. Human rights, human achievement, PEACE, to name but a few.
4) I am really bored. So I typed this all out just for you. Aren’t you glad?

http://www.youtube.com/user/VictimOfBoredom Matt

First off, thanks for the amiable response. Always highly appreciated.

In no way did I mean to suggest that you’re shallow for wishing for transcontinental peace. I wish for that, too! In fact, I think most people do. What I meant to say was that to credibly envision such an outcome feasible (as opposed to merely desirable) would necessitate a reality wildly different from what we have today. Considering there is basically no more war occurring within the West, including Latin America, the notion of a peaceful Asia essentially implies nothing less than full-blown world peace, sans Africa, with the only exception being a war between a Western power (in other words, the United States and any potential allies) against the entire united Asian continent. Needless to say, that’s profoundly unlikely (and if it did happen, it would basically end the civilized world). So that basically brings us back to the original point, which is that this notion would basically equal world peace (sans Africa). And just as everyone wants world peace but no one credibly imagines it possible (at least not within the lifetime of anyone currently alive), so, too, would an Asia completely at peace within itself be desirable but far-fetched.

Aside from the complete logistical nightmare of uniting 4.3 billion people under a single government (would you really trust any ONE person to be the president or prime minister of 60% of the world’s population? And would this be a democracy, four times as insane and bureaucratic as India’s? Or a get-things-done authoritarian government ala China? Because Asians in democratic countries would never voluntarily relinquish their democratic rights, especially to a government that caters to other constituent nations.), here are some of the obstacles that would have to be overcome:

– peace between Israel and all the Muslim countries (which would likely only be achieved by the eradication of Israel)
– peace between Pakistan and India (nuclear powers that despise each other)
– peace between North and South Korea, presumably entailing the reunification of the peninsula (which would likely involve South Koreans relinquishing their wealth to create a temporary welfare state)
– peace between the PRC and ROC (presumably by the dissolution of the ROC)
– peace within China’s borders (presumably by the elimination of all political dissidents)
– peace between Indonesians and Malaysians (already a political reality, but not a social reality)
– agreement between South Korea and Japan over the sub-divisional allocation of Dokdo/Takeshima
– agreement between China (and Taiwan?) and Japan over the sub-divisional allocation of the Diaoyu/Senkaku islands
– agreement amongst China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, and Indonesia regarding the allocation of all the individual disputed South China Sea islands
– reconciliation between Shia and Sunni Muslims (i.e., Iran) with respect to answering to the same government
– reconciliation between regular Sunni and Wahhabi Muslims (i.e., Saudi Arabia) with respect to answering to the same government
– reconciling pro-Sharia Muslims in West Asia and parts of the Malay Archipelago, Hindus in South Asia, Buddhists in Thailand (where people LOVE the monarch and would never let a higher authority supersede it), and Confucian secularists in East Asia
– and yes, reconciling historical grievances amongst the Sinosphere, the Korean peninsula, and Japan

The EU is currently facing an existential crisis, and this is with people who are all technically the same race and whose languages are mostly related. Asia, meanwhile, comprises like six different races (Turks, Persians, Arabs, South Asians, East Asians, Austronesians) and multiple unrelated linguistic families (Semitic, Sino-Tibetan, Japonic (Altaic?), Austronesian, Indo-European, and Dravidian). If the EU can’t exist as a unified entity without Greeks and Italians feeling resentment over German domination of lending or German resentment of what it sees as parasitic Mediterranean countries with incompatible values of work ethics, can you really see Saudi royalty, Hindu nationalists, Hong Kongers, Korean businessmen, Han chauvinists, Japanese exceptionalists, and Levantine Islamists all answering to the same government?

Zappa Frank

i can assure thare no resentment for war by anyside… problems are merely economic. we’va passed this hate long time ago.. on this point even asian should admit that europe did something amazing.. from an eternal war to a country of pace..

Zappa Frank

sincerelly is an illusion, just asians in USA could think about it… never seen so much unresonable hate among so similars countries..

http://www.facebook.com/deejaytaufiq Mohamad Taufiq Morshidi

For me i’d blame this on General McArthur and his failure to reform the Japanese education system into a system that can question issues like this.

After WWII, the Allied rulers implemented a huge reform in German education. Instead of telling the Germans to obey, the Allies told the Germans (Or specifically West Germans) to question. And thus, you see Germans as critical thinkers and they tend to limit their hostilities towards France & Poland only during football matches, and when it comes to the Holocaust and the rise of Nazism the students would ask “why did this happen and how, and how can we prevent it from happening again”.

Japan never had such reforms and it can somewhat lead to issues like this continuously happening without asking “why”.

http://www.youtube.com/user/VictimOfBoredom Matt

Eh…I wouldn’t chalk that up to General McArthur, no matter how much power and leverage he may have had.

There was of course a massive cultural chasm between Europe and Asia. Although Germany got carried away with the rampant nationalism left over from the nineteenth century, it still, at the time of the post-war era, had a significant legacy of Renaissance humanism, the Enlightenment, and the Christian tenet of agape (the love of God for humankind). I don’t know much about pre-war Japan, but it doesn’t seem like the secluded island nation had a legacy of those sorts of ideals and philosophies.

Moniisek

It was a bit more complicated with Germany. The nationalism that emerged there after the WWI had very little to do with the legacy of 19th centrury, namely The Kingdom of Prussia, because people pretty much hated the emperor who cowardly disappeared because the Germans weren’t the winners in 1918.

Nationalism and ultra right-wing (if it’s ultra, right and left loses its meaning anyways) political parties have tendencies to form when the economy is not doing well. And here they were, former soldiers taught to believe in nation but damaged by the first war waiting for the leader, with ability to seduce the masses, to come and give them a hope for better work and social security. We all know who came to tell them.

As for pre-war Japan, I think one thing truly was strikingly different, though I’m no expert of course. It was still pretty much an agricultural country with a society from Middle-Ages, sort of. The guys from the emperor’s squad saw how the Great Britain and America is slowly stealing pieces of land around Asia. China (the all-time rival as well as model for Japan) literally broke down because of the opium wars (behind which were the Britons) and now is being even more messed up by civil wars. Well I guess they really felt like it’s time to show the West that Japan wouldn’t end up like that. They were not always military and closed, I think there was even a period called the Taisho democracy (not sure though) after Meiji died. I mentioned above that most people were farmers and didn’t really care about the emperor or politics which had, naturally, made them an easy target for propaganda and brainwashing. So my conclusion is the Japanese nationalism back then was more forced by the government (not gonna say the emperor because there were obviously groups of people from old families who kept an eye on the imperial family…you know, the Middle Ages.)

But again though, Japan had its share of Enlightenment/Industrial Revolution reforms similar to Germany and Western Europe.

As Moniisek said, Japan had the Meiji reforms and the Taisho era. Japan had imported various enlightenment works from America & Europe under the Meiji era, and it was the first Eastern nations to do so.

>After WWII, the Allied rulers implemented a huge reform in German education.

Again, conducting psyops on a nation to rob them of all national pride isn’t something to be proud of.

Japan will continue to stubbornly remain Japanese. You leftists and Koreans can just keep on whining.

nanaharabr19655ie

foad tool

http://www.facebook.com/deejaytaufiq Mohamad Taufiq Morshidi

But it worked for Germany. And look where they are now.

Search your feelings @disqus_8PL1vQhKfV:disqus

You know it’s true.

Erdos

Worked for Germany?

What worked for Germany was high productivity and corporatism to assist their manufacturing sector. I don’t think destroying their sense of racial pride had anything to do with that economic recovery…

http://www.facebook.com/deejaytaufiq Mohamad Taufiq Morshidi

But it still work.

Who cares about racial pride?

I’m all about implementing critical thinking in the Japanese education system which is essential to creating future diplomats, linguists, historians, economists and entrepreneurs.

If you’re looking at this through a racial perspective, then you’ve just lost the argument.

Erdos

>critical thinking

Why not extend that “critical thinking” to criticizing the -real- sacred cows of modern western theology, like egalitarianism, equality and so on? These concepts are usually based on pseudoscience. Egalitarianism goes back to Locke’s blank slate, and we now know that no such thing exists, and that a lot of behavioral characteristics, including a lot of our cogntiive abilities, are inherited/genetic. This scares some people like liberals, because it conflicts with their religion.

>If you’re looking at this through a racial perspective,

Well, I’m European. I sympathize with the Japanese wanting strict immigration laws. According to the Acquis Communitaire and ECHR, we can’t even deport rapists in my counry.

http://www.facebook.com/deejaytaufiq Mohamad Taufiq Morshidi

>Why not extend that “critical thinking” to criticizing the -real- sacred cows of modern western theology

But they do.

>These concepts are usually based on pseudoscience

Stopped reading right there.

Erdos

Why did you stop reading there?

The postulation that all humans are equal as a result of possessing a blank slate upon birth is a manifest absurdity and is not supported by any hard science. Yet this is what most liberals believe.

Re: “But they do”

No they don’t, in some humanities departments leftists outnumber “rightists” by 50:1 (sociology). And this is when compared to OSTENSIBLE rightists, i.e. republicans and “Conservatives”. Who are more or less lock step in line with most liberal nonsense anyway.

ChuckRamone

Erdos, judging by your screen name, are you perhaps Eastern European? It sounds like you support ideas of Social Darwinism and Eugenics. Are you perhaps a member of a socially conservative group? If you are Eastern European, you must be aware that you are not exactly racially pure in the old Teutonic sense of the word, right? Seems like those who are the most insecure about their own racial origins are the most racist. See: the Golden Dawn group in Greece and American white supremacists.

Erdos

Mohammed and Chuck. Rather than insult or throw up chaffe, why not challenge what I have said? There is no scientific evidence for the postulation that human beings possess equal capabilities in any regard. None. Zero. Zlich. Nada.

If you were confident in your ability to defend your ideology, you wouldn’t resort to meta-discussions or ad hominem attacks. But you’re not confident, because you don’t really believe in liberalism as a coherent ideology. You believe in it as a series of appeals to emotion (“Donate to Haiti, show that you care!”, “Down with greed!”, “One race the human race!” etc).

For the record Mo, most non-whites in America are highly racially tribal, and non-white grievance and racial tribalism is something promoted by both academia and the media. No Nation will survive this sort of stress and tension, the US -will- Balkanize eventually, as all multiracial nations without an authoritarian element always do.

ChuckRamone

This whole tangent was started by you. You’re discussing multiculturalism when the topic is international relations. And as much as you argue for rationalism and proof, you have offered none yourself. Only declarations. Maybe you should start posting some genetic research that defends your position.

Nobody argued that certain traits are not inherited. But you brought up the untenability of multicultural societies and how “Balkanization” would destroy countries like America, which are becoming increasingly multicultural. So you’re implying that these disparities lie across races, no? The study you linked does not address race.

Erdos

>Nobody argued that certain traits are not inherited.

lel.

are you sure you want to make this claim? functionally speaking, the left believes that inequalities of outcome are ALWAYS a result of discrimination or some other nebulous concept. Which is why whenever a victim group are underrepresented, they promise new policy or legislation to address this.

>The study you linked does not address race.

That’s what IQ tests stratified by races are for. The Deary study I linked you to uses IQ/g as its proxy. You are a fool.

ChuckRamone

Since this has devolved into name-calling, is there any point in continuing? I’d rather not. It seems like you’re getting angry.

http://www.facebook.com/deejaytaufiq Mohamad Taufiq Morshidi

What @chuckramone:disqus said.

Oh, and go back to /pol/

Garet43

Ahh, I read that book as well. Blank Slate, by Stephen Pinker? While Pinker is correct to point out that genes differentiate us on an individual level, he said nothing about the validity of racial archetypes. The fact is that research has shown them to be invalid: there is greater diversity within so called “racial groups” than between them. If you think about it, then it makes a lot of sense. The genetic difference between a pigmy man in the Congo and a Xun man in Namibia is likely very extreme, due to geographic segregation and so forth. So, I hate to be the one to break it to you, but this “racial superiority” stuff is all garbage. I have another book for you to read: Jared Diamond’s “Guns, Germs, and Steel.” In there you will find a strong hypothesis that explains many of the differences in outcomes of various populations around the world.

By the way, America is doing just fine with our “multiculturalism experiment,” thank you very much. Believe it or not, the United States has incorporated millions of immigrants from every corner of the planet over the entire course of its history. Your vision of a “tribal” America just belies your ignorance. Yes, there are impoverished communities of African Americans, Latinos, etc (as useless as these terms are), but there are just as many, if not more impoverished whites around the country. These sweeping generalizations you’ve made are not just wrong, but harmful. Do some research and get back to me. Btw, I’ve posted a link to the study on the uselessness of racial categories I referenced earlier. Enjoy.

Racial pride = Racism. A basic understanding of modern genetics should teach that all humans are just that – humans. Any concept of race has little to no scientific basis and what basis it does have clearly has nothing to do with who we are as humans.

Jennster

To kill a cockroach, either (1) slap it with a book, or (2) stomp, pull off its legs, crush (like u do a cigarette on the ground) until it’s 100% guaranteed dead –> “Jing jiu bu chi chi fa jiu”.
I would <3 to see China do the 2nd option on these asians.

chucky3176

Does anybody care what these people think anymore?

It’s irrelevant.

ASDF

These people don’t think. They just mimic whatever they see and hear on TV.

Jennster

japan is too rebellious. they didn’t learn from the confucian ways of peace or maybe the koreans didn’t influence/teach them in history?

i propose south korea, north korea and china join up to isolate japan and beat them to a pulp just like in history. they need to know their place.

http://www.youtube.com/user/VictimOfBoredom Matt

“i propose south korea, north korea and china join up to isolate japan
and beat them to a pulp just like in history. they need to know their
place.”

Oh yeah, that’s *real* peaceful. Must be the “confucian ways of peace” responsible for China’s thousands of years of warfare and bloodshed. Maybe North Korea can give Japan a few tips about how to promote world peace.

Jennster

i don’t know if you are a white or a jap asian pretending to be a white but because caucasian don’t have confucian thinking ingrained, they behave like animals with the stealing of people’s land and bullying natives. even in china they need to be subdued from animalistic behaviour. the only way is to control these expats by force these ‘people’ to learn confucian ways of thinking. japan and white are similar in being animalistic.

http://www.youtube.com/user/VictimOfBoredom Matt

lol. I’m not white and I’m not pretending to be white. I have a picture of myself linked to my Disqus page via the YouTube link which links to my Google+ (R.I.P.) profile.

Anyway, I’m sure the barbarians in Canada and Denmark could learn some civility from the window-smashing anti-Japanese rioters in China, scrambling for their free potted plants…

I’ll agree that lots of Caucasian expats in East Asia are scumbag trash. But they’re don’t represent their entire race, and more importantly they’re certainly not a homogenous group. Some of them are loud-mouthed alcoholic assholes, while others are timid, quiet nerdy types (which I’m sure you hate equally as much, even though they’re the complete opposite of “animalistic”).

As for stealing people’s land, maybe you can ask the aboriginals of Formosa what they think of this. Or perhaps the Isan of Thailand. Or the Muslim Malays of southern Thailand and the Philippines. Or the Papuans of Indonesian-controlled West Papua. Not to mention the Turkic Uyghurs of China…

Jennster

what makes you think xinjiang chinese (being mutt blooded) are turkic peoples land originally? it was part of the tang dynasty where muslims immigrated near sichuan province and it is not near turkey. why are u claiming chinese land?
free okinawa.

http://www.youtube.com/user/VictimOfBoredom Matt

lol, Turkic people don’t just live in Turkey. Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, both of which border East Turkestan, are also Turkic countries inhabited by Turkish-speaking Muslims. And so is 20% of Tajikistan (the rest being Persian-speaking Tajiks), which also borders East Turkestan.

I agree that if Okinawans wish to secede, they should be allowed to. But I haven’t heard many (see: any) clamoring for independence…

Oh, and Xinjiang isn’t even close to Sichuan, so I’m not sure what you’re point is.

lol, do you seriously believe han are magically native to everywhere within the borders of late qing imperial china?

hahaha.

Butsu

“free okinawa”

oh my god, I’m speechless

Zappa Frank

that’s rude.. but if you’re talking about foreigners in china, well, in many case is really hard to blame you. Is true a lot of us (altough we vary a lot) in china are barely human… in our countries is different. I don’t know, i think really that china attract somehow a lot of sick people from westeners countries..i remember even the small foreigner comunity i used to join we were ashemed for the behavior of our guys (however is strange to be forced to consider someone “your guys” just because is white as you, outside china they weren’t our guys anymore)..

linette lee

I think China should open more for foreigners and give them citizenships. China needs to be “picky” like usa about their immigrants. Allow investment immigration. Look for high skilled immigrants. Allow people seeking for higher education paying tuition fee to China’s universities to come into China. It’s all good for China. Diversity is good for a nation’s economy when they pick their immigrants carefully.

Zappa Frank

i don’t think many foreigners would like to have chinese citizenship… than they would likely need a visa to back in their original countries because china don’t accept double citizenship and other countries are really strict to let chinese people come to visit. second i (and i think also other foreigners) would be a bit scared by the way they treat their citizens. third..you may become citizen, but you will never be accepted by people.. You think diversity is good, i agree… but you think this is the same thought of most of chinese people?

linette lee

I agreed. china is still very backward I mean look at how china treats their rural china citizens. Who wants to be treated like that? Like a third world country with third world mentality. Even the china chinese want to leave china and move to other western countries giving up their own china citizenships. China needs to fix their internal problem first.

Erdos

This is rather absurd, didn’t China colonize lands belonging to natives in places like Canton/Guangdong? The original inhabitants of Southeastern China were a Southeast Asian people, the Baoyue, who were bred/killed out of existence. Similarly, central Asian groups that didn’t submit to Chinese authority like the Sogdonians were also wiped out. Ran Min’s policy towards them is analagous to genocide in many respects.

Most Chinese dynasties have been expansionist to varying degrees.

linette lee

…………….south korea, north korea and china join up to isolate japan and beat them to a pulp just like in history. they need to know their place…………….

You are too much. China don’t need to join up with anybody. china needs to fix their internal problem first. Japan and south korea are only trading partners. Not china’s allies nor enemies. As a matter of fact, China needs to improve USA-china economic relationship. China should reduce trading with japan and south korea and increase with USA. We want USA economy to do well, you know why, because millions of your family china chinese reside in USA. When USA economy does well, your family chinese businesses do well and make big money. They go back to china and spend their money. They all do. I urge all chinese in the world to buy usa products over other countries.

Jennster

we don’t need USA as much as you think, hence the dumping of using usd in transactions with china’s neighbouring countries. we are trading with australia because they have resources, not usa. moreover, different culture and race.

linette lee

Don’t know too much about australia economy. But australia is never really a threat or competitor for the Chinese. USA on the other hand is China big trading partner or competitor. China is one of America’s largest trading partners. The nations’ two economies are deeply interconnected with Beijing holding more than $1 trillion in U.S. debt and U.S. exports to China on the rise. So the two biggest nation in the world depend deeply on each other economy. When you support USA economy buying usa goods, you are supporting china’s economy. When you are supporting usa economy, you are also supporting millions of china chinese in USA. I am seeing more and more china chinese coming into USA for investment. They are making money. It’s good for China. Keep the usa economy up.

someguy

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a poll from the Chinese side where Chinese people feel that negatively about the Japanese. I think it is very clear now that it is Japan who hates China, and not the other way around.

Hokit

So “affinity” towards China and South Korea are at low levels? Who would’a thought when you’ve been barraged by people showing only disdain and aggression towards you? Nevermind your quality as a individual made up of complex thoughts and experiences – it seems that your nationality is the only barometer for how you’re judged.

Of course most things presented by the media should always be approached
carefully, but the fact remains that reports of vandalism and violence
generally won’t be welcomed by those on the receiving end. Attacking people and businesses who are not directly responsible for what happened in the past or what their leaders do isn’t the best way to gain you respect as an advanced and civilised society. There’s a responsibility to keep emotions under control as well as not sensationalising what could be isolated incidents concocted by a relatively small number of neanderthals.

PaulGillett

Japan is way better than Korea. Korea is way better than China. China is way better than Japan. But,Japan is way better than Korea and Korea is way better than China and China is way better than Japan. Although Japan is way better than Korea, Korea is way better than China. And of course, …..

A Gawd Dang Mongolian

Not surprising. Old grudges plus new conflicts? This was coming from a mile away.

PixelPulse

The only thing that would probably get them on friendly terms is to have a common enemy. But even then, I doubt it would easy much over.

Truth Spreader

Why are people so fussed over the position that their government takes?
Any international relations was probably made by less than 30 people from either government. You people (“Japanese,Chinese,Korean sheeps”) should learn that what you see on the news are the stuff that are news worthy, and I’m sure there are enough extremists from any country to fill that news hour.

Start cooperating and engineer a better future, we have bigger problems than country of origin.

p.s. I love Japanese products because they make the best product – Nikon user.

As a Chinese, I can’t really blame Japan for hating China and Korea.
I mean come on, China is just being a total douchebag to Japan and all of its neighbors as well.
As for Korea, they have always been anti-Japanese ever since Hideyoshi attacked Korea years ago.
Since both China and Korea are being racist douchebags, It would be more of a shock to see that Japan is feeling affinity towards both countries.

In Truth

Japan and Korea had been tributaries of China since ancient times. However, Japan stopped sending tribute to China in 894 once for all. On the other hand, Korea had remained the most earnest adherent of the Chinese Tributary System until 1897.

However, some contradiction arose. Since A.D 894, when Japan left the Chinese Tributary System, japanese have developed creativity and originality all the more and Japanese culture has flourished in a variety of fields freely.

On the other hand, another 1,000 years of Korea’s adherence to China caused a complete Sinicization of Korea culture and loss of the originality and uniqueness, since Koreans didn’t have to create things by themselves but had only to accept what was brought from China rigidly. Also, the long-term status as a vassal of China and the outdated social class system retarded the development of Korea to a critical level by the end of the late 19th century.

Chinese and Koreans despised Japanese as barbarians due to this secession.

Is this all over the rocks again? It’s a pity, I like all my asian bros

Tia

The only thing that will unite China Japan and Korea is when America invades us and bankrupts all 3 nations economically. Wake up people! Do you not know the fables?

The Four Oxen and the Lion

A Lion used to prowl about a field in which Four Oxen used to
dwell. Many a time he tried to attack them; but whenever he came
near they turned their tails to one another, so that whichever way
he approached them he was met by the horns of one of them. At
last, however, they fell a-quarrelling among themselves, and each
went off to pasture alone in a separate corner of the field. Then
the Lion attacked them one by one and soon made an end of all
four.

United we stand, divided we fall.

James Parker

I’m an American who has worked in both China and Japan and I can completely understand why the Japanese feel no affinity towards China. I sure know which country I prefer to live in – hint….it’s an island. LOL

Ricky

I don’t see why they can’t forget about the past. Filipino’s have and they’ve had it just as bad as China and South Korea in ww2. In fact Filipino-Japanese relations are quite high even though they’ve had a horrid past.

dk2020

That’s because the Filipino govt and economy isn’t that great.. my friends lolo fought the Japanese when the US left them in the jungles during WW2 and he hates the Japanese .. it is the older generation that hold most of the resentment because they witnessed it..

Clueless Japanese youths. It is the Japanese governments fault for not educating their people and so they protest thinking that China is trying to take over their Island. The fact is that China is actually disputing what the U.S and Japan over their mistakes including that island after the the WWII defeat.

Had the Japanese done this, then the right wing would not have their way of manipulating and hiding their history.

Japanese citizens are so misinformed that they probably know nothing about the WWII.
At least the Germans apologized.

Elf Queen

They can open a book or search the internet if they want to be informed. They dont live in North Korea after all.

nitewings

“been done to us”
“All I feel is animosity.”
“I hate the Koreans more because they insult our imperial family.”
today i learn: apparently china and korea invaded japan. and japan feels everything that’s happening is totally unjustified. my god. how can any country not feel like bffs with such a great country? i wonder why? *eyeroll*

Raghuvansh

So Japanese don’t feel close to the Chinese or Koreans? That’s sad. Guess they still love the west more than their Asian neighbors , huh?

Would you be surprised that South Korea is more pro-American than pro-North Korean? There’s nothing “sad” about preferring allies over enemies.

a.ayaka

‘Japan has been treating China and Korea with friendship and sincerity…’

Excuse me, sir, but is that meant to be a joke, a lie, or a lie?

Dh

Come on guys. We should not hate the people but the government. It’s like parenting. If a child was brought up by bad parents they would eventually learn the bad habits. The Chinese people have been propagandaed since they were born. I know that because I was born in china before I migrated overseas. And I could judge neutrally, and I love Japan and Japanese culture. I’m sure there are a bunch of people like me who loves Japan but stuck in the propaganda in china. We should all be nice to each other, and you can let the Chinese know it’s their government that is lying.